Free Republic

A federal judge threw out a lawsuit Monday that relied on conspiracy theories to try to invalidate Georgia’s election results that showed Democrat Joe Biden defeated President Donald Trump. U.S. District Judge Timothy Batten dismissed the lawsuit, which was bought by former Trump attorney Sidney Powell in an attempt to decertify Georgia’s election. “They want this court to substitute its judgment for the 2.5 million voters who voted for Biden,” Batten said in court in Atlanta. “This I’m unwilling to do.” The decision leaves Georgia’s election intact, supporting state officials’ statements that there was no evidence of widespread fraud. Georgia...

BALTIMORE — Former Maryland U.S. Sen. Paul Sarbanes has died. His son, U.S. Rep. John Sarbanes, released a statement late Sunday night, saying: "My father, Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes, passed away peacefully this evening in Baltimore. Following state, local and public health guidance amid the COVID-19 pandemic, our family will hold a private service in the coming days." Sen. Sarbanes served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1971 to 1977 before being elected to the Senate, where he served for 30 years. He announced his retirement in 2006.

19 Face Federal ChargesTALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA – More than 170 total arrests have been made on charges ranging from solicitation of prostitution to human trafficking of a minor. Nineteen defendants have been indicted on federal charges as a result of a two-year, multi-agency investigation led by the Tallahassee Police Department. Lawrence Keefe, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida, Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence E. Revell, and Lorena Bueno, Assistant State Attorney for the 2nd Judicial Court, made the announcement at a press conference in Tallahassee, Florida.“The victims of sex-trafficking crimes need our help,” said U.S. Attorney Keefe. “As a...

During a Monday interview with CNN’s “New Day,” Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan (R) pushed back against allegations of voter fraud or a rigged election in his state. Duncan and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) recently shot down calling a special legislative session to overturn the results of the state’s general election. Although some Republicans have claimed the election was rigged in Georgia, which certified former Vice President Joe Biden as the winner, Duncan said he believes his state’s election process “was fair and legal.” He added Georgia’s recount will “verify what we originally came up with.

America's big cities and habitually blue states have suffered a pre-existing condition for a long time: their left-leaning government control.America’s big cities might be the ultimate victims of COVID-19. Leftist policies have raised their spending beyond self-sustaining levels, making them increasingly dependent on external revenues. Beyond interrupting these external revenue streams, the Wuhan virus threatens a long-term disruption that might be irreversible. A recent border budget battle in leftist New England demonstrates COVID-19’s growing strain on America’s big cities. In October, New Hampshire filed suit with the Supreme Court to stop Massachusetts from continuing to tax 80,000 of its residents...

Whoever wins the Senate runoff elections in Georgia will control the balance of power in Washington, D.C. With the Senate majority leadership only two seats away, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) recently declared, “Now we take Georgia, and then we change America.” Now cast members of the long-running CW paranormal series Supernatural will unite with failed Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate and Stacey Abrams for a virtual fundraising event on Tuesday to raise money for Abrams’ “voting rights” organization Fair Fight.

How pandemic policy has benefited the corporate elite.. If one were to consider the upward transfer of wealth and market share to Big Business since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, one would think such economic changes were intended. After all, it’s no secret that the interests of politicians and the corporate elite align more often than not. As we near a year of lockdowns and sheltering in place, the long-term effects of pandemic policy on the economy are becoming clearer. Almost every piece of legislation ostensibly designed to curb the spread of the coronavirus and protect workers has wreaked...

I received this letter from my friend (actually, my best man in the 1980s) on election day and I have not yet responded. It's probably a wasted effort, but if anyone has any words of wisdom I can impart to the guy, feel free to comment. Thanks."My depression has everything to do with the damage that has been done to this country in the last 4 years. I’ve been driven from the Republican party because of what it has become and the principles it has abandoned. I now have no choice except country over party. I wish it had not...

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif) announced his opposition to Attorney General William Barr's appointment of John Durham as special counsel, calling it "politically motivated. Just when we are on the brink of freeing the country from the oppression Trump unleashed during his four years of tyranny, I cannot abide ensconcing one of his henchmen in a position to terrorize innocent people." Schiff also sought to distinguish this special counsel from the appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel to investigate Trump's collusion with Russia. "Back then the nation had suffered the calamity of seeing the most qualified candidate...

Many folks know I hunted cannibals in India. And found plenty. Including a most remarkable man from Houston. How did a Southern Boy become a cannibal? Long story. I interviewed him exhaustively in four countries: India, Nepal, Thailand, and the country of Massachusetts. The most interesting story ever. He came from a wealthy family. Father graduated from Texas A&M and was Army officer during World War II. One of his direct-line grandfathers, William Stevenson, from his Grandfather William Stevenson's autobiography: "William Stevenson (1768-1857) was a pioneer itinerant Methodist preacher in the southwestern United States. In 1814 or 1815, probably 1815,1...

The text-messaging system, called v-safe, is intended to provide early indications about possible adverse reactions from the vaccines. Using the messaging program, people who have received the shots can report symptoms and other health effects, such as missed work. Their responses could prompt phone calls from a team of safety professionals. The CDC said in a statement that the smartphone-based tool was developed to allow “people to report how they are feeling after covid-19 vaccination to CDC in almost real time." The voluntary system is in addition to existing safety monitoring programs, the agency said. “Reports to v-safe indicating a...

WASHINGTON — Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, sounded a dire alarm on Sunday amid spiking Covid-19 cases across America as she expressed frustration with government officials who ignore public health guidance as caseloads and deaths rise. Speaking during an interview on NBC News' “Meet the Press,” Birx said that it’s especially frustrating to see governors and local officials refuse to enact the same mitigation strategies they used to successfully curb the virus’ spread in the summer.

Special Attorneys Michael Wheat (619) 546-8437, Joseph Orabona (619) 546-7951, Janaki Chopra (619) 546-8817, and Colin McDonald (619) 546-9144NEWS RELEASE SUMMARY – December 2, 2020HONOLULU, Hawaii – Former Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha and his wife, former Honolulu prosecutor Katherine Kealoha, were sentenced in federal court this week to 84 months and 156 months in prison, respectively, for a range of criminal conduct, including framing their relative with a crime to conceal their own fraud. Additionally, the Kealohas’ co-conspirators, former Honolulu police officers Derek Wayne Hahn and Minh-Hung “Bobby” Nguyen, received 42 months and 54 months, respectively, for their involvement...

Four to six months ahead of possible testing times, the test's commissioner pre-emptively canceled this only way to measure the effect of varying school shutdown regulations across state lines.A federal agency is canceling congressionally mandated nationwide tests scheduled for 2021, ending the only way to reliably measure the effect of different school shutdowns across state lines until approximately 2023, the agency’s commissioner announced the day before Thanksgiving.“The change in operations and lack of access to students to be assessed means that NAEP will not be able to produce estimates of what students know and can do that would be comparable...

Good Morning/Afternoon,MEGAABlessedAdventMerryChristmasHappyHannukahHappyNewYear2021!

in a rollover ira, i purchase some spy in june 2020 and occasionally a bit more, a bit later. i have had rollover ira for a long time, not done anything with it other than watch it gradually grow over time, until now. i am retirement age (over 60yo). it used to be the fidelity version of spy for many years. i want to sell $210k of spy now (dec 2020). spy went up 17.67% in about 5 months. i have a long term cg rate of 15%, short term cg rate of 37%. will i only get zinged at...

The consolation prize for President Trump in the Golden State was that he won 5.5 million votes in 2020, a million plus more than four years ago. But did Joe Biden really top 11 million ballots as officially reported? One experienced programmer and information security expert thinks the answer is likely not. In fact, the Democratic candidate may not have even topped 10 million. Doing a deep dive analysis of the election live-feed used by the New York Times, the researcher, with two decades of experience looking for data anomalies, estimated that at least 1.7 million votes for Joe Biden...

Venezuela’s congressional election on Sunday will almost certainly give President Nicolás Maduro control over the country’s last major independent institution, but will do little to improve his image at home and abroad. Maduro, who already has the loyalty of the courts, the military, prosecutors and other institutions, seeks to load the National Assembly with members of his United Socialist Party of Venezuela. Critics say he’s guaranteed that by rigging the system to smother the last remnants of democracy in Venezuela. An opposition coalition led by U.S.-backed politician Juan Guaidó is boycotting the vote. The European Union, the U.S. and several...

Monday, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Anthony Fauci voiced his concern about the upcoming Christmas holiday as the United States continues to battle the coronavirus. Fauci told CNN “New Day” host John Berman that his concerns are similar to the ones he had heading into Thanksgiving. He noted that Christmas lasts longer than Thanksgiving, which he said makes the upcoming holiday “more compounded” and “more of a challenge.”

LOS ANGELES – A North Carolina man who engaged in a series of cyber and swatting attacks, including sending bogus threats of shootings and bombings to schools in the United States and United Kingdom, was sentenced today to 95 months in federal prison. Timothy Dalton Vaughn, 22, whose online aliases included “WantedbyFeds” and “Hacker_R_US,” of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, was sentenced by United States District Judge Otis D. Wright II. Vaughn pleaded guilty in November 2019 to one count of conspiracy to convey threats to injure, convey false information concerning use of explosive device, and intentionally damage a computer; one...